Description

Noble gases form a minor component of the earth’s atmosphere. Argon is the most abundantly available noble gas in the atmosphere, followed by helium and neon. Gases such as krypton and xenon are available in minute quantities, amounting to barely 0.00011% of air. Akin to oxygen and nitrogen, the noble gases are generally obtained through separation of air in Air Separation Units (ASUs) through methods such as liquefaction of gases and fractional distillation. Helium is generally trapped with natural gas with concentration of up to 7% in terms of volume. The gas is then extracted commercially using low temperature separation processes such as fractional distillation. Argon, xenon, neon and krypton are also obtained from the air through cryogenic separation and purification processes. Major air separation plants are the primary sources of noble gases in the market. Capacity addition of such plants and R&D for newer separation technologies is being undertaken in order to deal with increasing demand for noble gases.

This research study analyzes the market size of Noble Gases globally in terms of volume. The noble gases market has been segmented on the basis of product segment and geography, in order to provide a holistic picture of the market. Market data for all segments has been provided on a regional level for the period 2013 to 2019. A comprehensive competitive landscape including company market share analysis has also been provided in this report. Key product segments estimated in this study include Helium, Neon, Krypton, Xenon and Argon. The report analyzes the production in million liters of each product segment and estimations are done accordingly. Regional data have been provided for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW).

This report also includes Porter’s five forces model analysis, value chain analysis, and market attractiveness analysis by end users. The noble gas value chain includes manufacturing of gas, transmission systems, distribution pipelines and end users. Value chain for noble gas covers all the stages of manufacturing of rare gases including end user applications. Some of the key market participants that manufacture noble gases include Airgas Inc., Praxair Inc., Air Liquide S.A., The Linde Group, Proton Gases, and Ellenbarrie Industrial Gases Ltd. The report provides an overview of these companies followed by their financial revenue, business strategies, and recent developments.

The prices of noble gases are volatile in nature and change depending upon the application and the type of end use market. Demand for noble gases including helium is likely to outstrip supply owing to its wide applications in several industries. Helium is one of the noble gases that has retained a substantial market share for the past couple of decades. Inception of alternative gases the popularity of helium has reduced however abundant availability and low economical price of helium has kept its market prospects upbeat over the past decades. Rare gases namely argon, krypton, neon and xenon are likely to witness a growing demand owing to their specific applications in niche markets. Argon is being used in thermal insulation windows, metal production and for welding purposes in automotive & aerospace industries. Gases such as xenon, krypton and neon are used in a wide range of applications in energy-efficient lighting solutions, window insulations, and laser technologies and in electronics and semiconductor industries. They are also used in anesthetic and aerospace industries for ion thrust propulsion. This coupled with increasing demand for specialty gases globally make the noble gases market ready to give stiff competition to other gas markets.

The prices of overall noble gases are decreasing primarily of alternate gases namely hydrogen and nitrogen, leading to a slight squeeze in profit margins. The study presents a comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies, winning imperatives for them by segmenting the noble gases market as below:

Enquiry Before Buying

Free Market Analysis

Noble gas is described as a group of gases that include helium, neon, krypton, xenon, argon and sometime radon and exhibits great stability and extremely low reaction rate with other elements. Noble gases are also termed as inert gases because of their least reactive nature. Noble gases belong to the group 18 of the modern periodic table. The inertness of noble gases makes them best suitable in the applications where reaction with other elements is primarily harmful.

All noble gases exhibit few properties such as colorless, odorless and monatomic gases with least chemical reactivity. The chemical properties of noble gases can be described on the basis of the modern atomic structure theories. Valence electrons in the outer most shells are full, thus it generates a least probability of chemical reactivity with other elements. Noble gases have very feeble inter atomic force thus having very low boiling and melting points. Increasing application in the industrial, medical, automotive and lighting industry has led the demand for noble gases rising in the past few years.

Some of the major drivers for noble gas market are technological advancements in end use industries (healthcare, construction and space centers), least reactive nature under standard conditions and the availability in atmosphere in free state. The alteration in end user applications with introduction of noble gas utilization has driven the market growth. Gases from noble gas group are used in manufacturing industry such as steel, cement, glass and lime.

The demand is Asia Pacific region is growing rapidly due to the industrialization and urbanization in the developing economies. The major constraint for noble gas market seems to be the aging air separation unit’s technologies used for the production of the gases. The conventional production and processing techniques seems to be unsuccessful in maintaining the balance between demand and supply of the gases. The increasing demand round the globe is likely to generate new opportunities in the noble gas market for the small and regional players.

The noble gas market can be segmented broadly into industrial gases, rare gases and medical gases. Industrial gas includes argon and helium from noble gas group. Industrial gases are the gases that are manufactured specifically for wide range of industries such as petrochemicals, power, mining, steel making, biotechnology, fertilizers aerospace and electronics. Helium production was substantially high relative to other noble gases. After Helium, Argon accounted for second highest production in 2012 and is expected to grow at a healthy rate during the forecast period. Rare gases include krypton, xenon and neon. Krypton gas is widely used in insulated window and lighting industry. Energy efficient programs in the European and North American region are the major drivers for the demand of krypton gas market.

Economic slowdown in Europe and saturation in the insulation window market the production process was sluggish; however, the market is expected to gain momentum over the forecast period. Xenon gas market is expected to grow swiftly owing to its rising application in lighting, plasma displays, ion engines for satellites, lasers and electronic chip manufacturing. The market share of Xenon gas in the market was miniscule; nevertheless market for the Xenon gas is expected to grow smoothly primarily due to increased demand in automotive industry. Helium and Xenon are treated as medical gases also, as Xenon finds application in anesthesia. When mixed with oxygen, it is used as an antalgic, which is used for the attenuation of pain. Helium in liquid state is used in operations in magnetic imaging resonance for obtaining high quality images.

In terms of production of noble gas, North America is one of the leading producers followed by Asia Pacific. European market was tamed owing to the economic instability and subprime crisis. The market for the noble gases in Asia Pacific region is expected to rise significantly over the couple of years chiefly due to increased demand in China, India and Japan.

Major players in the noble gas market are Air Liquide, Praxair Inc., Linde AG and Messer Group. The major share of production in North America and European region is controlled by these players. All the major players are concentrating on the Asia Pacific region chiefly due to rising demand and better profit margins. Messer Group has opened its subsidiary in China for the production of krypton and xenon foreseeing substantial demand in China. Rising demand and growing popularity of noble gases in the emerging nation has helped the major producers and suppliers proliferate significantly over the recent years.

To get discount on this report, just click on the button below.

To receive brochure, please click on the button below.

Share This Market Study!

Upcoming Report

Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is a thermoplastic polymer of ethylene made by process of free radical polymerization at high pressure. It has density in the range of 0.910g/cc to 0.940g/cc which results in low...

The dependence of many Asian countries on agriculture has led to increased fertilizer production. This, in turn, has resulted in rising demand for phosphate, aiding the growth of the global phosphates market. The...

A solvent is a substance which when dissolved with a solute forms a solution. Usually, solvents are liquids but they can also be in the form of solids and gases. They are used for various purposes such as in dry...

Nanoclays are naturally occurring or chemically synthesized inorganic minerals. They are clay minerals optimized to be used as nanocomposites. Nanoclays are used as adhesives for polymers to improve its thermal,...

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), also known as povidone or polyvidone is a water soluble polymer which is produced from the monomer N-vinylpyrrolidone. PVP has a wide application scope in numerous industries, primarily...